Former coordinator of military intelligence Gen David Sejusa and former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Edward Kale Kayihura, may have to wait a little bit longer after their scheduled retirement was pushed to next month.
In April, it was reported that the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) high command and army council had endorsed the long-awaited retirement of Sejusa and Kayihura. Media reports indicated that the senior military officers who have for long yearned to be retired from the army were to call it quits early this month. But URN has learned that the retirement arrangements of the four-star generals and 74 others with the lowest in rank being a lieutenant colonel will be held at a later date next month.
Sources said the change in the retirement program follows the recent amendments in the army top brass payment structure where most of their wages were increased by over 100 per cent. Generals who have been earning slightly above Shs 2 million will reportedly be earning over Shs 15 million.
It is said that because the changes in salaries have found the generals slated for retirement still serving in the force, their packages must be in line with the current wage structure, a reason the high command and army council have extended the arrangement. Deputy army spokesperson, Lt Col Ronald Kakurungu, said that the retiring officers and their close relatives will be informed once a decision to retire them has been made.
Salary enhancement for senior officers was leaked to the media last week. The decision to raise senior military officers’ wages was reportedly resolved at a high command meeting held at Entebbe State House.
Despite declining to confirm the amount of money each senior military officer will be receiving, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesperson, acknowledged that there were salary enhancement options proposed to the ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (MOFPED) during a meeting held on July 6, 2022.
Kulayigye expounded that salary increments proposed to the ministry of Finance were a result of an earlier meeting held on May 25, that received a proposal from a technical team led by the permanent secretary for the ministry of Defense and Veteran Affairs.
“At the high command meeting of July 6, the team presented a number of salary enhancement options that had been proposed to the Finance ministry. The meeting was informed that eventually a hybrid option of enhancing general officers’ salaries by 100%, senior officers by 50% and captain to private by 33% had been agreed upon with the ministry,” Kulayigye explained in his statement three days ago.
It is not yet clear if an agreement was reached for the generals’ salaries to be increased by only 100 per cent. Another matter that is not yet clear is how Kayihura would be retired when he is still battling charges related to espionage in General Court Martial. Kayihura was arraigned in the military court, three months after he had been dropped as IGP in March 2018. He was accused of arming civilian groups with weapons that were a preserve of the armed forces.
There is also contention on whether Sejusa will be accorded the same retirement package. Sejusa fell out with the government he fought to bring in power after his dossier about the ‘Muhoozi Project’ in 2013 revealed that Museveni was preparing grounds for his son Muhoozi Kainerugaba to take over him through the purging of the old army guard especially the officers opposed to the move.
According to Sejusa, Kayihura and then Internal Affairs minister Gen Aronda Nyakairima (who would later die mysteriously on a plane enroute to Korea) were among the senior officers opposed to the Muhoozi Project. Although the state vehemently denied the existence of the ‘Muhoozi Project’ and reacted angrily by closing down Daily Monitor newspaper offices for publishing the dossier, first son Muhoozi has for the past months expressed his desire to become president embarked on campaign and self promotion activities across the country.
It is also reported that Sejusa has not been earning his salary and other privileges for years and that would mean he must be given all whatever he has not earned before he is officially retired from the forces. During the retirement of six generals in 2018, President Museveni ordered packages of Shs 650 million which included Shs 250 million for buying a house and Shs 400 million for gratuity.
At the time the commander-in-chief gave the 2018 order as was reported by the media, six major generals including Ali Kiiza, Kasirye Ggwanga, Hussein Adda, James Ssebaggala, and John Mateeka were retiring. The brigadier generals included Jacob Musajjawaza, Yowasi Kiiza, Stephen Othieno, Olanya Ojara, and Mark Kodili Ayiasi.
Lower rank military officers ranging from the rank of captain to private are set to retire on July 31. It is not clear whether this plan still stands. The generals had reportedly been scheduled to retire on July 8 which was last week.
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